


Sea of Green

by ronzcaby



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Canon Divergence - Four Swords, Clothing swap, Developing Friendships, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, One-Sided Attraction, Silly, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Manga), also it'll be very vague but, i'll edit these if i have to but yeah expect these dumbasses to be dumb and silly, link doesn't return the four sword, oh and eventually uh, teen and up only cause everyone but red has a swearing problem, what could go wrong?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronzcaby/pseuds/ronzcaby
Summary: For being the leader of the team, Green sure can be forgetful, especially when it comes to making promises and scheduling plans.So when the other Links discover that Green had five places to be at once the next morning, they make a plan to take it into their own hands to fill in the spots for him. Unfortunately for them, despite all originally being the same person, they may not know Green as well as they think.What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Blue Link & Arcy, Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link, Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link & Zelda, Green Link & Erune, Green Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link's Father & Vio Link, Red Link & Valensuela, Shadow Link & Zelda, Shadow Link/Zelda
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	1. Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> alright here we go gaymers my first multi chapter fic since my deviantart days :flushed:  
> sorry ahead of time if updates are all over the place! working retail sucks
> 
> regardless of my inability to consistently write, I hope you enjoy!

Erune shouted her goodbyes from the porch as Green walked down the path. With a bright smile, the hero turned over his shoulder to glance at her, eventually turning around completely and walking backwards as he waved to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he called, chuckling at her eager double thumbs up. “Save some cake for me if I end up being late!”

Hearing her distant giggles was enough to add a skip to his step, his sword and shield tapping together as he bounced down the dirt walkway. As he set an internal reminder to finish Erune’s birthday gift in the morning, his ears perked up when he noticed his home peeking over the horizon. Huh, the walk always felt longer than this - must be the excitement! Green picked up his pace to a light jog, reaching up and holding onto his scabbard’s strap to prevent it from falling from the increased speed. Tomorrow was going to be perfect! Wake up bright and early, finish the sewing work for Erune’s new doll, decorate the gift box it’ll be put in, and then just enjoy the rest of the day with the birthday girl! The cake would just be an added bonus.

Happily humming a tune to himself, Green skipped up the steps to his shared home and headed inside. “Welcome back, Green!” Red called from the kitchen, peeking around the corner to check on his returning companion. “Did you have fun with Erune?”

Knowing a certain hero in the house would throw a fit over his muddy boots, Green simply nodded and carefully removed them, leaving them out on the wooden deck and shutting the door. He’ll clean those later. “If you call birthday party planning fun, then yeah!” he chuckled, raising his hands above his head and leaning back, his intertwined fingers nearly hitting the wall by the time his back cracked. _”Whoof…_ I’m surprised you and the others aren’t going.” With a satisfied sigh from his stretch, he let his arms naturally fall and swing back and forth, his attention returning to the crimson teen. “You guys have plans or something?”

“Nope, just enjoying the day off!” He looked over his shoulder before wandering into the front room. “Don’t get me wrong, I like Erune and all, but after that whole doll incident…?” He felt himself shudder at the memory, Green mirroring the movement himself. “Why do those kinds of dolls have to be so creepy?? I’m surprised you can even stand looking at the one you’re making for her.”

“I mean?” There was a pause...an awkward one, an uncertain smile eventually growing on Green’s face as he shrugged, reaching up with one hand to rub the back of his neck. “Well, I guess I _am_ excited for it to get out of the house. I’m sure she’ll like it though since she gave away her old one.”

As if on cue, a small doll dressed in a half-way done pink dress reached the leader’s peripheral vision, his nerves rising through the roof when he jumped to the conclusion: _that thing is haunted and is floating down the hallway._ He wasn’t the only one to notice, as Red let out a shriek at the sight of it, quickly jumping behind Green since he was the only one who was armed. “See??? I told you at the start that thing would come to life and kill us in our sleep!! But now it’s worse cause we’re awake!!!”

Green reached back on instinct to grab his sword, but paused after hearing a faint snicker from behind the haunted doll. He raised a brow and squinted his eyes. Wait, is it just him or does the hallway look a little darker than usual? “Oh good Goddesses… Shadow, knock it off!”

The seemingly floating doll stopped in its tracks when its holder was called out, an annoyed, defeated sigh echoing from the darkness. “Aww c’mon, you’re no fun, Green bean,” the dark Link whined, the blackness surrounding the corridor eventually fading as Shadow manifested from it. He held the doll in both hands, using his thumb to raise its hand to have it pretend to wipe away tears, his own bottom lip sticking out and quivering. He was about to continue his whining, and maybe throw in some teasing over Red’s priceless face, but then the arm he lifted up fell off the doll, falling to the ground with an echoing thud. Blink. Blink. ...“Oops.”

“Shads!” Dropping his hand from his sword’s handle, Green quickly knelt down to retrieve the doll’s lost arm, narrowing his eyes as he stood back to his full height and met Shadow’s. The entity offered him a nervous smile that slowly grew more and more uneasy as Green glared at him. “This is why I told you guys not to touch it! It’s still not ready, and now it’s- ugh...” He let out a huff to dismiss his frustration, taking a deep breath right before carefully taking the doll from Shadow. “I’ll have to redo this arm tonight if I want to have time in the morning.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“No no, don’t be, Shads. I kinda needed the motivation to go over older stitches anyway. It’ll prevent, uh… _this_ from happening,” he chuckled, his smile returning once he noticed Shadow relax at the laughter. “Just...listen to me next time, though, alright?”

“Whatever, dad,” Shadow muttered with an eye-roll, snickering under his breath when he got a light punch in the arm from the other. After informing Red not to bother calling him for dinner since he ate at Erune’s, Green dismissed himself and retreated to his room to begin his work (or...rework) on the doll. Shadow stood in silence for a moment before facing Red. “...Dude. Red. You should’ve seen the look on your face,” he said with a smirk. “It was fucking hilarious.”

Red blew a raspberry in response, crossing his arms over his chest before returning to the kitchen. “Can you go get Blue and Vio, you big jerk? Their food will be ready soon.”

“Yeah yeah.”

-

Dinner was quiet without their leader around, but the four at the table certainly weren’t going to complain about that. It was Blue that would eventually break the silence, clinking his fork against an empty spot on his plate. “You guys missed Val eating shit against Dad today,” he said, quickly catching the attention of the others. “I think he’s still getting used to the new armor he has to wear for combat, but it was still funny to watch him gloat about getting better yet still losing to our old man.”

“Speaking of Valensuela, did you hear about his latest attempt at showing off?” Vio quickly took a couple sips of his water before speaking again, giving the others time to shift their gaze to the spotlight that was now on him. “He challenged Green to a rematch.”

“Did Green accept the challenge?” Red asked, his eyes wide with curiosity and eagerness.

“Yes, Green informed me about their future sparring match earlier this week.”

“No way,” Shadow muttered, tilting his head with a raised brow. “And he didn’t tell us about it? And you guys call _me_ the jerk around here.”

“I believe it was more of an attempt to prevent Blue from spreading word to the entire town.”

“Wha- hey! Am I not allowed to hype up a fight??”

“Wow… I’m surprised Green is fine with that, since he looked kinda nervous after their last sword fight.” Red tapped his pointer finger against his cheek as he looked up towards the ceiling. “I wonder how this one will go down.”

“Oh c’mon, we all know Green is gonna kick Val’s ass like always,” Blue said with a confident grin. “I’m excited to watch. When’s this shindig happening, Vio?”

The teen in purple raised a brow with a cocky smirk. “Tomorrow, after lunch in the castle courtyard.” He waited for excited smiles and hyped laughter, but when nothing came out of the three, Vio blinked a couple times and frowned. “Geez, not all at once, guys, settle down.”

“You said...tomorrow?” When Vio nodded, Red tilted his head and stared blankly at his plate. “But, doesn’t he- He has Erune’s party to go to tomorrow, and he told me he was going to stay the whole time to even help clean afterwards.”

“Erune’s party?” Blue shook his head, making some random hand gestures as he spoke. “No, Green was supposed to help Arcy with that new soup kitchen in town tomorrow. It’s their opening day, remember? He hasn’t shut up about it for the whole month.”

Shadow felt out of place as he looked back and forth between the three at the table, glancing over his shoulder towards the hallway before looking back. “Is now a bad time to mention he was supposed to help Dad lead some new Royal Guard members on patrol at Lake Hylia?”

Vio already had his head in his hands by the time Red was finished speaking, so once the others contributed to Green’s apparent crowded schedule, he had nearly leaned forward enough to lay down in his plate of food. “Please tell me you all are joking…”

Just to reassure the bookworm that it, in fact, _wasn’t_ a joke, there was a quick knock at their front door. The sound of something sliding under the door followed the knock, Red quickly standing up from his seat to retrieve the mail. The heroes at the table simultaneously sighed when they heard Red’s quiet “uh oh.” Returning to the table with a letter in hand, Red flipped it over to reveal it was for Green, an ever so slightly smudged, maroon lipstick mark right next to his name on the envelope. “It’s from the princess.”

“Oh Din don’t tell me.”

Despite Vio’s request for the absurdity to end, Red opened the letter and quickly skimmed through the short paragraph. He usually wouldn’t want to dive into Green’s privacy like this, but he had a bad feeling about this timing. It was fine at first - something about missing him and the others since they moved into the house, blah blah blah… “I’m looking forward to—”

“Please don’t fucking say it.”

Red gulped at Blue’s words, yet continued to read aloud anyway. “I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Cue three, loud, identical groans echoing through the dining room. “I hope you didn’t forget.”

_”He forgot,”_ the others said at once.

“I know I had a bad feeling in my gut today…” Red carefully folded up the letter and returned it to the envelope, his eyes darting between his annoyed companions. “What should we do? If he realizes all of the promises he made all fall on tomorrow, he’s gonna stress out like crazy! I don’t want him freaking out or collapsing or something else scary!”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Vio let out a long sigh and shook his head. “He wouldn’t collapse, but knowing you need to be at five places at once would certainly be overwhelming.”

“Five places at… Vio, that’s it!” A smile grew on Red’s face as he looked at the puzzled purple teen. “Green needs to be at five places at once, and how many of us are there?” he asked rhetorically, watching in anticipation as the others pieced everything together with wide eyes. “Five! What if we all split up and pretend to be Green? I mean, we all look the same, and Shadow can still shapeshift!”

_”I call the date with Zelda!”_ Shadow hissed out quickly, glancing towards Vio and Blue with a knowing smirk, chuckling lowly when their cheeks warmed up in frustration. “Heh, sucks to suck, huh losers.”

“Good thinking, Shadow!” the teen in red cheered, ignoring the dark Link’s raised brow at the praise. “Zelly was probably still gonna be stuck at the castle during their hangout, so you’ll be able to avoid going out in the daylight that way! Oh that works out perfectly!”

“...Yeah. That’s totally why I called it.”

“You’re a big jerk, but you’re a big smart jerk!” Red said proudly with a smile, looking over to Blue next, who immediately flinched at the eye contact. “Blue, you can take kitchen duty with Arcy!”

“What?? No way in hell am I doing that!” the hot-headed teen spit back, his hand that was originally resting on the table closing in a fist. “Aren’t you the one that likes dealing with food?? Why am I being picked?”

“Green has talked to you more about that soup kitchen than any of us, Blue. Plus, you were at the castle a lot more since you helped Father with the Royal Guard, and since Arcy was their old chef, you know her best compared to the rest of us.”

“...Fuck you, Red, why do you have to be right,” Blue muttered under his breath, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “Fine. Whatever. I guess I’m a soup maker now.”

“The title you’re looking for is potager,” Vio commented, earning an eye-roll from his already annoyed companion.

“And the title _you’re_ looking for, Vi, is patroller!” Red giggled. “You know Hyrule like the back of your hand at this point, and you’re an excellent actor! You’d be the best to send in order to convince Father you’re Green!”

“That leaves the rematch with Valensuela.” Shadow’s eyes grew wide at the realization of the remaining task, and the dining room’s remaining hero. “Wait, Red, _you’re_ going to take Val’s challenge?”

Red smiled from ear to ear and nodded, putting his hands on his hips and standing tall. “Yup, I sure am!”

Shadow snickered and raised a brow, resting his elbow on the table and placing his chin in his hand. ”You’re kidding, right? Are you sure you don’t want to send Violet in your place? Or better yet, Blue? You’re not exactly, uh...”

“Hm?” The boy in crimson stared at the shadow with innocent eyes, tilting his head and placing his pointer finger on his chin. “I’m not exactly...what?”

“Nevermind. You’re gonna kill it out there, man,” Shadow chuckled with a smirk.

“Yeah! I’m gonna kill it out there!”

With another sigh, Vio dragged his hands down his face and glanced at Blue, who was unknowingly doing the same action, freezing up once they locked eyes. Their silent agreement to just go along with this bullshit resulted in simple nods, Vio speaking up once more before the newly started pause of silence would drag on. “So, I can only assume you were all thinking this as well, but the best strategy to this would be wait until Green leaves for Erune’s place in the morning, we, er… _borrow_ some of his extra green tunics, and after another brief discussion of the plan, we all split off from there, yes?”

“...Sounds good to me!”

“Yeah sure, whatever.”

“This is gonna be a fucking wreck and I can’t wait to watch it all fall apart,” Shadow snickered.

Meanwhile, Green felt the need to pray to the Golden Goddesses for sanity and strength tomorrow as he finished fixing the doll’s arm. Not just for him, but for the others, despite their shared day off. He wasn’t sure why the feeling hit him, and hopefully if things go as planned for his companions, he wouldn’t find out why.

All the heroes could do was wait for the sun to rise, and hope that the morning would bring them all acting skills.


	2. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO AGAIN I'm sorry this took so long life has been absolutely batshit crazy so this had to be delayed for awhile ;;
> 
> thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy! oh, and happy new year!!!!

If it weren’t for the rising sun’s light peeking through the blinds, he would’ve kept sleeping. With a quiet groan, followed by a not-so-quiet yawn, Green slowly opened his eyes just enough to convince himself he was awake. He would continue to squint for a few moments to avoid blinding himself as he gathered the willpower to sit up. At last, he would do just that, stretching his arms above his head before bringing his hands down to his face, attempting to rub the remaining sleepiness out of his eyes. His ear twitched when he heard the sound of feet shuffling down the hallway, making a smile grow on his face as he chuckled. Which one of them could possibly be up this early too? A part of him wondered if his overdramatized yawning was enough to wake up the others, even for a heavy sleeper like Red, though that worry disappeared when he heard a door quietly creak open and gently close seconds later. It was probably just Vio getting some water, or Blue taking a lap around the house to make himself tired again.

Before he went into any more possibilities, the waking teen kicked his legs out from under the covers and stood on his feet. It took him a short while to catch his balance, having stood up a little too quickly, but Green was soon gathering his things and setting them aside before retrieving some clean clothes. The tunic wasn’t a necessity today, given how he wasn’t going to be around the others at this party, so he took the extra time to pick out something casual. Despite knowing that making himself color coordinated wasn’t a requirement like usual, he still ended up picking out a green sweater, taking it out along with some comfy, black dress pants. Nothing too fancy, but Green still wanted to look at least _somewhat_ presentable all while staying comfortable. After changing and taking a peek at himself in a mirror (and winking at himself with some finger guns), he returned his focus to the pile of items he made earlier.

Erune’s doll was the most important thing in the pile. He ended up staying up a little later than planned in order to make sure it looked just right...and that it would stay intact. A flowy, pink gown dressed the toy perfectly, its brown pigtails dangling from each side of its head tied up with deep blue ribbons. In order to hide the stitches around its neck, Green had made a small bead necklace to cover the sewing work, the beads varying in colors and shapes. Though they were pastel to match the rest of the doll, there was clearly some bias from Green’s end, as most of the colors consisted of light green, blue, red, and purple, all connected on a piece of gold thread. Admittedly, the details of the doll’s features weren’t great, since the hands and ‘shoes’ were rounded nubs with no details (although the shoes _do_ match the color of the ribbons - A for effort?), but Green managed to sew in little freckles on its face to make up for it. With a small and happy smile to counter the slight creepiness of the button eyes, Green cut away the last stray thread from the doll’s face and examined the final product of his work.

_Shake shake shake-_ Aaaaand it’s intact! Green felt his lips curl up in excitement at first, before his eyes started to catch little things about the doll… One of the sleeves for the dress was slightly shorter than the other. There was a patch in the back of the clothing’s fabric that was a different shade of pink compared to the rest of it. The left button eye wasn’t perfectly lined up with the other, making it look crooked with the rest of the face. It’s…

“It’s perfect.”

Right, perfect… The others would probably agree.

With a gentle smile on his face, Green placed the future gift into a decorated box and reached for his sword and shield, looking the blade up and down as he lifted its scabbard. The sunlight met the green gem on the bottom, making its bright color catch the teen’s eye. He wondered how his teammates would handle themselves while he was away for the day, taking a second to debate if he should stay for their sake or go with his original plans, but he eventually kept with the latter. Humming a melody to himself, he threw the scabbard over his shoulder along with his shield and carefully picked up the gift box, balancing it in one hand as he reached for his bedroom door.

The next thing he knew was that Red was falling into the room. Green flinched and let out a gasp as he stepped back, watching in confusion and concern as Red face-planted with a quiet _”oof!”_

“R-Red? What’s going on?”

“...Good morning, Green!” Red chirped up with a bubbly grin, bringing up his hands and resting his chin in them as he kicked his legs around. Guess he was making himself comfortable on the floor. “Sorry, I was just gonna ask if you were eating before heading over to Erune’s!”

“Were you...leaning against my door to try and hear me that whole time?”

“That’s not important, silly, eating the most important meal of the day is what’s important!”

Green raised a brow and squinted his eyes at the crimson hero. He was only greeted with big, innocent eyes staring back at him, Red’s lower lip hanging out in rising concern. “I was just, uh, going to grab something for the walk there.”

“Oh, perfect!” Red immediately hops back onto his feet. The fast movement made Green hold the gift box a little tighter out of instinct, though Red didn’t seem to notice this. “Don’t want you to be late AND have to help on an empty stomach!”

“Right, yeah, thanks for...checking on me?”

“Of course! Have a safe walk, Green,” Red said with a playful bow, earning a small chuckle from the leader as he walked backwards and returned to the hallway. Green rolled his eyes and followed along, only to notice Red leaning against the wall right next to his door, the look on his face being more than enough to show that he was hoping Green would turn the other corner. “Yeah! Safe walk time! Have fun! Make good decisions!” the teen laughed nervously, siddling along the wall as he spoke until he disappeared into his own room.

Green blinked a few times before looking back and forth down the hallway. Doesn’t look like there was a prank waiting for him. To keep himself from thinking too hard about it, he just went with the assumption that Red was acting weird simply from being tired - he’s never up this early most days. Shrugging it off, Green looked down at the gift box in his hand and smiled to himself, turning on his heels to head to the living room. As soon as he left the edge of the hallway, he paused his movements after a strange feeling struck him. It was a familiar feeling, as if he were about to see another haunted doll in the corner of his vision, but this time it felt like there would be...more than one.

After staying frozen for a second, he quickly reached for his sword and spun around in place to face the wall he had his back to originally. Upon seeing the source for his feeling of being watched, his eyebrow twitched and he squinted his eyes. “...Guys?”

Blue and Shadow had their backs against each side of the hallway’s exit, staring at Green with wide eyes and nervous expressions. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Blue’s head as his gaze looked back and forth, trying to find an exit rather than an explanation. Meanwhile, Shadow had turned to smiling at the leader of the group, though his uneasiness was about the same as his not-so-sneaky companion. He raised one clawed hand to wave at Green, noticing Blue do the same not long afterwards.

“Um.” After clearing his throat, Green brought his hand down from his weapon and returned it to the box, taking a step closer and watching the pair attempt to swallow their nerves. “What’s going on? Talk to me, is everything alri—”

“They’re playing hide-and-seek with Red.” Green blinked and turned towards the kitchen, watching Vio calmly walk in with a cup of fresh coffee. Luckily, the ‘hiding’ pair’s savior seemed to distract Green enough for him to ignore their relieved sighs. “Don’t make it obvious,” the teen whispered. “They couldn’t find a spot in time, so they’re gonna sneak down the hallway to find better spots when Red eventually comes out here.”

“Wha- oh, alright.” Green turned away from the others to look at Vio, keeping his voice down to match his hushed tone. “Weird, I just saw Red not long ago, and it didn’t seem like he was playing since he was apparently...checking on me, or something.”

Vio seemed to almost choke on his coffee mid sip, clearing his throat to hide it while he ran a hand through his bedhead hair. Was no one in his house capable of laying low and acting natural except him? “He probably thought the others would go to you for a hiding spot,” he said with a hoarse voice, still recovering from his near spit-take. “I wouldn’t blame them for trying to hide in there. Your room is a mess. It would be the last place I’d look, personally.”

Green narrowed his eyes as Vio smirked, eventually joining the bookworm in his low chuckle before lightly punching his arm. “Whatever, mister I practically have a library in my room. Why are you all up so early, anyway? Well, I mean, I know why _you’d_ be up,” he started, though there was a hint of annoyance in his voice as he squinted at Vio, mainly the dark circles under his eyes. “But...the others? Up this early just to play...a game we haven’t played in ages?”

Vio noticed his leader’s stare and held back an incoming yawn, simply out of pure spite for the ironic timing. Ignoring the first comment, he shrugged in response, taking another sip of his warm beverage before speaking. “I don’t know, I can’t read their minds.”

“I just assumed since you apparently knew their plan so well.”

“I _am_ the designated planner for most of our missions and patrols, Green.”

“...Fair enough,” Green chuckled, glancing over towards the others. With a quick wink, he pinched his pointer finger and thumb together and pressed them against the corner of his lips, moving across them to show his lips were sealed on their plan. Though he’d only get uneasy smiles and thumbs up in response, Green would fail to notice them quickly retreat down the hallway once his attention was on Vio again. “But hey, are you sure you don’t want to go to Erune’s party with me? I know you’re getting a break from patrol today, but you should have some fun once and awhile.” He tilted his head with a concerned look in his eyes, though the welcoming smile on his face never faded. “The last thing I want is to find you passed out at your desk again because you took a ‘vacation’ only to overwork yourself with research.”

“I’m sure. And you still have my word on that. It won’t happen again.” He took a step closer towards the front door, watching Green walk beside him out of instinct. “I was planning on catching up on sleep, actually, much to my displeasure as you know.”

“And you thought drinking coffee would help you sleep?”

“...Uh…”

Green only laughed at the realization on Vio’s face, his head shaking slightly before the pair made it to the door. “Whatever works, I guess. I better see you relaxing or still sleeping by the time I’m back tonight, alright?” Reaching forward with one hand, still balancing the gift box in the other, he turned the handle and swung open the door. He...forgot to clean his boots, but at least the mud dried up. It’ll fall off on the walk over he was sure. As he stepped out, he looked over at Vio again, who had moved to stand in the middle of the doorframe. Even though he was looking away during his previous sentence, he swore he could feel the eyeroll of his companion. “I’m serious, Violet. Promise me you’ll take it easy today?”

After taking a deep breath, Vio let out a long, defeated sigh before nodding his head. “I’ll try.”

“No, you _will._ Promise me.”

“I promise I’ll take it easy today.”

“Good,” Green said with a gentle smile, blindly putting on his boots with one hand. “And don’t give me that offended look, asshole. I want you to take care of yourself and not overbook yourself.”

“I could say the same to you.”

“Wait wha—”

“Now hurry up and get going! You’re keeping me awake and away from my precious beauty sleep!” Vio said with a slightly louder tone, nudging Green once he was standing up straight again. “Oh and you’ll be late meeting up with Erune or whatever.”

Though he was thrown off by Vio’s sudden push for him to go, Green chuckled and hurried down the front porch steps, looking over his shoulder and waving. “Sleep well, Vio! I’ll be back before the sun goes down!”

“Oh take as much time as you need, Green. _Please.”_ Before Green could respond, Vio shut the front door and turned around towards the hallway. His ear twitched as he looked at the missing three peek around the corner at him, his eyes squinting as he took a long...very long...extremely long sip of his coffee- aaand it’s gone. “Dumbasses.”

“Don’t be mean, Vi!” Red whined, being the first to walk around the corner. He had a green tunic draped over his arm and another in his free hand, carefully holding the collar of it as he hurried over to Vio. “We aren’t as good with this stuff as you are!”

“Well I hope to Farore that your acting skills improve by the time we finish changing,” Vio muttered, taking the green colored clothes from Red. The others made their way into the living room as well, watching Vio look into his empty mug with a sigh. “Are some of us going hatless or are there enough for all of us?”

Before anyone could respond, the front door swung open, making the four in the house flinch and quickly turn towards the door. Green blinked and looked between everyone, noticing...everyone was holding a colored tunic that matched his name.

“Green! What do you think you’re doing here??” Blue spat out, trying to turn his body enough to hide the clothes in his arms.

“I...live here?" he chuckled with a nervous grin. "I forgot to grab food for the way there. Why are you guys carrying around my clothes?”

_”Laundry!”_ they all responded at once. Their expressions would’ve made it obvious they were shocked at their synchronization, but luckily, Green saw right through it.

“Oh. Thanks!” he chuckled, hurrying by Vio to grab a snack for the road. By the time the others sighed their anxiety away, Green had found an apple and returned to the exit of their home...leaving small bits of mud on the floor. “Appreciate it, guys! I’ll pick up on some of the other chores when I get back!” And with that, he waved and walked out once more, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door shut, the remaining heroes immediately dispersed to return to their rooms to change.

-

The teen stood in front of the mirror confidently, looking himself up and down in his new green attire. Instead of properly combing his blond hair, he snaked his fingers through it slowly before ruffling it around, the frizziness making them chuckle as they shook their head like a dog. Messy hair? Seems pretty Green-y. Not that it would be obvious, as a green, pointed hat soon sat on his head, covering most of the hair besides his bangs. Taking one last chance to admire himself in the mirror, the hero would place his fists on his hips and stand tall, winking at his own reflection before relaxing soon after.

Retrieving the sword and shield resting against the bedroom door, he threw them over his shoulder before exiting the room and walking down the hall. It was then he saw someone else in green hunched over near the front door, making the boy flinch and freeze up. “H-hey, what are you doing??”

The other would stop and turn to face the teen in the hall, raising a brow with an unamused expression. “Cleaning the mud?”

“I know what you’re _actually_ doing, Green!! I mean why are you here?? You’re gonna be late for Erune’s party!!” He would soon gasp and look down at himself, his cheeks warming up in embarrassment. Caught red handed! Or would it be caught green handed in this case? “W-wait, uh, forget everything I just said! Pretend you didn’t see me!!”

“...Red. I’m Blue.”

“And I swear it’s not what it looks like I— huh?” Caught… **Red** handed? Get it? Red blinked a few times and processed what was said to him before simply mumbling a quiet “oh,” the embarrassed warmth in his cheeks reaching the tips of his ears. “Oh Hylia I’m gonna be bad at this.”

Blue snickered and rolled his eyes, finishing up his cleaning job and standing tall, taking a moment to admire the clean floor. He brushed off his green tunic and went towards the kitchen to put the cleaning utensils away, catching a glimpse of another blond in green walking down the hall. “Lookin’ good, Vi,” he chuckled, disappearing into the other room.

Red looked over his shoulder and smiled, taking a step to the side to let Vio inside the living room. “Oh, Vio! Good job hiding those dark circles!”

“Shadow, actually,” the teen snickered, the colors of his disguise disappearing to show off his monochrome ones instead before returning to green. “Just wanted to check if my Green look was decent. I think Vio is still changing—”

There was a surprised shout from the kitchen, making Red and Shadow quickly dash into the room- Red holding his sword’s handle, Shadow showing off his clawed fingers. The pair would blink when they’d see what scared Blue, looking between the remaining hero in green and the aggravated Blue, who was kneeling down to pick up the dropped cleaning items. “Shadow! Don’t fucking scare me like that!”

“I’ve been here the whole time. You’re just blind,” the bookworm would mumble, taking a sip from his mug. Did he...get another cup of coffee? He was leaning back in his seat with his legs crossed on the dining table, his free hand hiding behind his head as he balanced his weight in the Leaning Tower of Chair. “I was waiting for you slowpokes to get done. Oh, and I’m Vio. Further evidence to prove you’re as blind as a Keese, Blue.”

“If it weren’t for the consequences of getting that damn coffee of yours spilled on that tunic, I would’ve pushed that chair to make you fall.”

“Terrifying.”

“You guys are silly,” Red giggled, making the others turn in his direction. “Let’s not waste anymore time though! We all got places to be!”

“Right. Sorry, Red.” Finishing off his second - is it really his second? who knows, maybe it’s the third - cup of coffee, and ignoring the look of disgusted horror on Blue’s face, Vio let his legs fall off the side of the table and stood up tall. “Just for clarification for all of our sanity,” he started, heading over to the counter to set aside the empty mug. “Red is taking on Valensuela’s rematch at the castle, Blue is assisting Arcy at the new soup kitchen in town, Shadow is spending the afternoon with the princess, and I’m leading some new soldiers on patrol with Father.” He looked around at the sea of green in front of him, as if waiting for a response he never asked for. “Correct?”

“Yup!”

“Unfortunately.”

“Spending the afternoon…so formal sounding. It’s okay to be jealous and call it a date, Vi,” Shadow snickered. “That’s how _I’m_ looking at it. With how sneaky Green can be sometimes, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s actually a date.”

“Oh yes, please continue giving us your childish reminders of our shared feelings towards her highness.”

“See! Jealous~”

“Shut up, Shads, or I’ll pop you in the jaw and make you.”

“Blue! That’s mean!” … “Wait, you _are_ Blue, right?”

_“Oh Hylia…”_

-

Finally, after several minutes of last second preparations for their assigned tasks, the Links in green stood outside of their shared home in a circle, offering each other the best of luck with their day of acting. After some quick thinking, Vio suggested everyone should leave at separate times in order to create some distance from each other. Most of their plans all started around the same place, after all, and it would be pointless for all of them to show up at once and risk being seen. Red and Shadow were the first to leave. To avoid the light, the dark Link took the form of Red’s _actual_ shadow, though didn’t bother mimicking his skipping steps and bouncy movements. Too early for that kind of effort.

Once the bubbly hero was out of sight for a few minutes, Vio took his leave, dragging his boots across the dirt path to do his best to cover Red’s tracks. The goals today were simple, yet knowing his companions, he was praying after each step for them to get it together and make this work. He’s never looked down at the other Links before, and he will never put one above the other in any sense, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about how today would go for them all.

After the worrywart was gone for awhile, Blue picked up his pace and headed down the path, not bothering to cover tracks like the bookworm. He was the only one who didn’t have his sword and shield, and he almost felt naked without them. He’d be WAY more ecstatic about making soup if it involved swords and spears and claymores - maybe even hammers, though he was a bit biased - but unfortunately, this kitchen wasn’t going to be a battle arena. Would he make it an arena anyway? Absolutely. Him and his brothers have had their fair share of food fights before. But Arcy’s reputation for her new business was at stake. All he could do was hope that his boredom wouldn’t get the best of him.

Despite their separation, all four of them would all have the same unfortunate realization at the same time…

It was going to be a very, _very_ long day.


	3. Shorty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you once again for your patience with my all over the place posting schedule ;w;
> 
> this'll be the last "set up" chapter. after this...it'll truly be shenanigans time. until then, I hope you enjoy this!

_Knock knock knock!_

Erune’s ears perked up at the sound. A wide, excited grin grew on her face as she jumped up from her seat and hurried to the door, skidding to a stop to make sure she looked presentable. After taking a second to push some hair out of her face, and flinching when there was another knock, she took a deep breath and swung open the door with a big smile. “Green! What a surprise!” she said with a tilted head, struggling to contain her giggles from her confused act.

Green stood at the edge of the front porch, back turned towards the door as he slowly looked over his shoulder. He ran a hand through his hair before turning his body towards the girl as he spoke. “Oh, dear Erune, I just...found myself in the neighborhood, and I just couldn’t resist saying hello. I hope you don’t mind...the intrusion.” His words were deep and dramatic, his hand moving from his hair to rest against his forehead as he struck a pose. “How rude of me to interrupt you on such a special day!” he scoffed, his lips curling up slightly as he peeked at her face. Seems like her struggle to not laugh was contagious.

That look is what broke her. Erune erupted in a fit of giggles as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the hero with warm cheeks. “You’re so stupid, Green,” she mumbled into his shoulder, making Green finally break character and join in the laughter as he hugged her back. “Come inside already, I’ve been waiting all morning for you to show up! What kept you?”

His smile grew nervous as he was dragged inside. “Ah, uh, the others were acting all weird and I got worried,” he started, kicking off his boots by the door. “Even Vio was being weird.”

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know? Just weird. I’ve never seen Red up that early. At least willingly,” he chuckled, setting the gift box on a table. “Everybody got a day off from knight stuff today, so they were probably just excited to finally enjoy themselves. Enough about them, though, I’m sure they’ll be fine!” Putting his hands on his hips and standing tall, he offered Erune a confident smirk as she rolled her eyes and giggled. “Now then, the birthday party master is here and ready to work! What’s left to set up, Erune?”

-

The teen felt a yawn creep up his throat, though he forced himself to keep it down. As he made his way through Castle Town, he kept his attention high for any glance of the color green, making sure that him and his companions were away from each other at all times. However, after walking by an alleyway between some shops, he felt his feet grow heavy as he forced himself to stop. Taking a second to blink, Vio reached up and rubbed at his eyes as he took a step back, looking down the alleyway with a raised brow. “Red?”

The other teen in green flinched when he heard his name, turning around from his shady spot to look at Vio with a nervous smile. He raised a hand and waved, Shadow peeking around him to catch a glimpse at the matching colored bookworm.

Vio let out a long, tired sigh as he walked into the shade of the buildings, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one wandering by noticed him. “Guys, what are you doing here?” he asked hardly above a whisper. “Why aren’t you at the castle?”

“The rematch isn’t until after their lunch time, remember?”

“I am fully aware, yes.”

“Then I should just...lay low, right?” Red asked with an innocent grin. “Green is technically off from patrol duty too, as far as the other Royal Guards know. It would be weird for him to be there before the rematch starts.”

“Green is also supposed to be with the princess, and out with Father, and helping a soup kitchen’s opening, _and_ attending a birthday party right now. Technicalities are kind of out the window right now, Red.” Noticing Red’s ears droop, the hero huffed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, I know you’re probably nervous about having to spar with Valensuela-”

“But I’m not ner—”

“-but this is something you gotta toughen up about, alright? I know you’re capable, Red-”

“But I already know I’m capa—”

“-and I know you’re gonna do great out there.” With a smile, he moved his hand from Red’s shoulder and reached up for his head, ruffling his hair like he would with a child. Red wasn’t exactly amused by this, given his frustrated expression, but Vio failed to notice this. Was that ignorance from exhaustion, or was his Green impersonation really starting to rub off on his usual personality? Pray to the Goddesses that it isn’t the latter. “Just think to yourself… What would Green do?”

“Probably punch you in the arm, Violet,” Shadow snickered behind Red. “Or bite you, if Red is already getting in the act. I’d stop patting his head if I were you.”

Vio raised a brow at the comment and returned to looking at Red, who’s cheeks had warmed up from rising annoyance. Red wasn’t quick to anger like Blue, but it was clear that he was about to stop being the bigger person and start biting people. He took back his hand and tucked his thumb in his belt instead, watching Red reach up and fix his hair and adjust the green hat covering it, eventually clearing his throat. “My apologies. I jumped to conclusions and thought you were nervous. It’s been awhile since you raised your sword at a Royal Guard, after all.”

Red crossed his arms over his chest with a huff, turning away from Vio as he tapped his foot. “I’m not nervous at all! I already know I can do this, I don’t need a pep talk, Vi. I was just _trying_ to think like Green, and thought going now would be weird, and now we’re here probably on the verge of causing a scene or getting attention and—” **_Grrrrummble…_** “...O-oh, um, excuse me,” he mumbled, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck with a laugh. “I was so focused on getting Green out of the house that I...forgot to eat breakfast.”

Shadow felt some gears turn in his head before he hovered around Red, looking at him with an expression alone that said _I have an idea!_ “I have an idea!” he said, catching the attention of Vio as well. “Fighting without eating beforehand is the worst, and you know that fully well, so why don’t you join the Royal Guard for their lunch in the castle? Green may have had the day off originally, but that guy thinks with his stomach half the time, so it wouldn’t surprise me that he’d chow down with the others before a sword fight.”

Vio couldn’t help but smile with a nod, taking a step closer to get Red’s attention again. “Plus, that would make things easier for Shadow to meet up with the princess. She didn’t give a specific time in her letter, but it’s better for Green to appear early rather than late.”

Red looked back and forth between the eager pair, a nervous giggle escaping his throat as he put his hands up defensively. “I-I see your points, yeah! That’s a good idea! And I _do_ enjoy the meals the castle cooks usually prepare, so everybody wins!” As if on cue, the boy’s stomach growled once more, making his face flush in embarrassment.

“Woah there, Red, calm the lion in your belly, will ya?” Shadow snickered, starting to phase into the ground. “Now let’s fucking GO already. I’m dying to...how did Violet put it? _Visit_ the princess? Yeah, no, I’m dying to go on my DATE with the princess!” he gloated with a smirk. “So let’s GO!”

By the time the dark Link’s bragging ramble was over, he had already disappeared into the ground as Red’s shadow. Red looked back to Vio, who happened to share his name in his face out of jealousy. “Yeah yeah, a date, whatever you say Shads,” Vio sighed with an eyeroll. “Go on ahead, Red, I’ll stay here for a bit to make some space between us so no one will see us both.”

“You got it!” The lighthearted hero clung to Vio in a hug, making the other smile while returning the gesture. “Sorry about kinda...ignoring your pep talk, by the way. I really do appreciate you, Vi. Thank you for believing in me.”

“Of course, Red. I always have.” Ruffling Red’s hair again with a raspberry in return, Vio couldn’t help but return the lip buzz before letting go. “I’ll be rooting for you!”

“All the same to you!” After securing his sword and shield once more, Red skipped out of the alleyway and returned to the sunlight, waving goodbye to Vio before disappearing around the corner.

Vio had raised his hand to wave in return, but the hero in green was already gone by the time he did so, making him sigh instead and lean against one of the buildings. Finally, alone again… He can let out that yawn. So he did. It was a deep, long yawn, his body starting to slide down the wall before he quickly stopped himself halfway. No, he can’t rest now. He’ll give Red five minutes to run ahead to create some distance, and then he’ll make his way over to the castle to meet up with their father. Five minutes. Just...five minutes…

-

“So they played hide-and-seek to see who would do...laundry? But then all decided to do it together anyway?”

“I guess so!”

“What a strange way to assign chores… You guys never cease to amaze me.”

Green shook his head as he balanced on the chair, reaching up to connect some decorations to a pin. The living room was already looking party ready! Just needed some final touches before they’d move to the dining room. If only he could...reach the pin. Even with the chair under his feet, he was struggling to connect the streamer. Tippy toes? Maybe that’ll help. “That’s not what we usually do though. We tend to just, uh, do whatever needs to get done when we notice it.” Hm, still can’t reach… After a pause, he decided to risk it, lifting his leg to attempt to balance on the thin top of the seat. “I mean, if it helps them enjoy their day off, I’m not gonna talk them out of it! I’ve been meaning to catch up on laundry any _WOAH—”_

“Gre— Green!” Erune dropped her end of the streamer and rushed over to the leaning chair, arriving just in time to catch the falling teen. She struggled to handle his falling weight, however, stumbling backwards until she landed on her behind, Green falling into her lap as the chair landed on its side with a quiet thud. The pair sat still for a moment, vision blurry and heads spinning from the sudden rush of the moment, before Green would eventually shake his head and collect himself. Erune wasn’t far behind, luckily, the stars spinning around her vanishing as she shook her head.

She met Green’s wide gaze, their eyes locked on each other for a few seconds before Green would move first. His hand rose up to his mouth as he started to snicker, his quiet laughter quickly changing to a heartfelt chuckle. Erune blinked once- twice- her cheeks tinting a light shade of pink as she smiled, joining in the boy’s laughter with some giggles of her own. She playfully bumped her forehead against his shoulder, making him lean into her on instinct. The two continued their laughter for awhile before Erune leaned back once more, rubbing at her teary eye with a sweet smile. Green mirrored the expression with a slight hint of nervousness, reaching over his shoulder to rub the back of his neck. “Turns out I can’t, uh, balance on the top of the chair.”

“No duh, idiot,” Erune giggled, pushing the teen off of her and scooting back, attempting to calm the rising heat in her face. Something about being that close to Green made her heart beat a little faster, but she didn’t want to admit that it was a nice feeling. “You have to be more careful.”

“I was careful! The chair wasn’t careful. I’m blaming the chair.” Green stood up to his feet and brushed himself off, taking a step closer to Erune to offer her his hand. She hesitated at first before taking it, allowing the teen to pull her up beside him. “Thanks for catching me though, Erune.” He offered her a smile. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

Erune caught herself staring before taking back her hand, turning away slightly to hide her warm face. “I-I’m fine! Don’t worry about me,” she started, taking a quiet breath before looking at the fallen chair. “The chair doesn’t seem fine...at least for this job. You want me to bring in a taller chair? Or maybe an extra table?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“You got it, shorty.”

By the time he registered his new name, Erune had turned her back to him and hurried out of the room. Green let out a loud, dramatic gasp, bringing one hand to his chest. “Sh-shorty??” Hearing Erune’s laughter in the distance, he huffed and followed behind her. “Who are you calling a shorty, shorty! _You’re_ the shorty! _I’m taller than you!!”_

-

“Who are you calling incompetant? _You’re_ the incompetant one!”

“Look at yourself! You barely look prepared to take down a mere Zol, let alone a Hinox!”

“Say that to my blade, ya bastard!”

Vio would eventually stir from the nearby commotion. He rapidly looked back and forth to recognize his surroundings, only to realize that he had fallen asleep in the alleyway. What time was it now? Did Red make it to the castle okay? Did he have- yes, his sword and shield were still on him. That’s what was important. He quickly rose to his feet, sword already drawn by the time he escaped the shade of the alleyway. Before the bickering strangers could clash their weapons, Vio had lunged forward and crashed his own blade against another, his shield raised to block the opposite sword. “Enough,” he spoke calmly once he landed again, watching the pair stumble backwards over his shoulder. After taking a moment to make sure they wouldn’t attempt to retrieve their discarded weapons, Vio’s eyebrows raised once he noticed their attire.

Both men were garbed in what appeared to be training equipment, though each set of defensive clothing seemed to be hand picked rather than prepared by experts. It was clear they picked the equipment out of things they had laying around their homes. One wore a helmet that hid his face, while the other exposed his long, brown locks as if he had no shame to hide. The most shame they bore, however, would be the scarves around their necks. Nearly identical in color to his current tunic, Vio took note of the golden symbols sewn into the end of each scarf. The crest of the Royal Family. All Royal Guards in training wore those green scarves, only receiving crimson garments of their choice from the princess once they were sworn in, unless they were personal knights to her highness.

Needless to say, these men were off to a bad start. “How shameful to create such petty conflict in front of these peaceful civilians,” Vio started, returning his Four Sword to its scabbard. As he continued, he would walk to the dropped swords, picking them up and stepping away from the men once more. “Her highness would be most disappointed.”

“And who the hell are you supposed to be, kid?” the man with the helmet slurred, taking a step- two steps closer to the hero. “Give me my damn sword back before I break your arms.”

“I wouldn’t talk to one of the princess’s personal knights that way, sir.”

“Personal knight? Pfft, yeah right!” He took another step closer, but Vio didn’t move, simply raising a brow as he watched the man in terrible armor try to be intimidating. The other man simply watched, unsure what to say or do. “What’s a shorty like you have on your belt that _I_ don’t have?”

“Honor, collectiveness, pride, and other things tend to make up for my height, actually… If you mean physical items, then nothing much really, just the legendary Four Sword that only a hero worthy enough is able to pull from its pedestal.” Vio felt himself smirk as the man flinched, watching him take those previous steps back at his words. “Oh, did I get your attention now? Shall I continue? Continue about how that blade is the very reason this town is prospering the way it is today, all because my brothers and I were strong enough to handle it?”

“W-wait, so you’re...you’re Li—”

“Link?” The stranger’s question came to a halt once a familiar voice joined the group, making Vio’s ear twitch before he turned to face the source. “Er, Green. Sorry, still getting used to it,” his father chuckled, walking up to Vio and placing a hand on his shoulder. He raised a brow and looked at the swords in his son’s hands, his gaze wandering from them to the two men in front of them. “I was waiting for you at the castle, but it seems you got...preoccupied.”

“My apologies, Father,” Vio started, looking away from him to glare at the pair. “I must ask your permission, however, for the Guard to cease any further progress with these men, and to return their training garbs to the Royal Family. Their reckless behavior and useless arguments could have resulted in a passerby getting injured, or worse, if they weren’t careful or stopped completely. I fear that if their bickering were to continue while under oath of the Royal Guard, it would lead to mission failures and lack of protection for this kingdom.” Returning to look at his father, Vio held up the swords for the other to take, though he made no such move just yet. “Oh, and I ask that we confiscate their weapons.”

His father listened carefully, though his expression seemed to slowly grow more and more confused at his son’s choice of words. It was best not to dwell on that now, though, his stare returning to the men who had stood at attention at his presence. “He speaks the truth, correct?” Though they hesitated, the men slowly nodded and looked towards the ground. “As I suspected. Remove your scarves this instant,” he commanded, holding his hands out. “You two are lucky it was my son that caught you fools.”

Vio stood proudly as he watched the men place the green scarves in his father’s hands, though the confidence didn’t last as a yawn crept up his throat. He turned his head away as he yawned, only being able to hear the heavy steps of the pair walk away in opposite directions. A hand returning to his shoulder is what made him turn back, and while he expected to see a proud smile on his father’s face, he was instead met with a worried look in the older man’s eyes. “Father? Is everything alright?”

“Is everything alright with _you_ , Green?” he asked, kneeling down slightly to match Vio’s height. “You’re not...acting like yourself. And you look exhausted.”

“Yes, Father, I’m—...” Vio blinked, nearly dropping the swords in his hands before smiling nervously. “Er, uh, I mean, yeah Dad! I’m cool! Don’t worry about me, I’m just a little sleepy is all, heh.” He felt his nerves skyrocket as his father narrowed his eyes. “I promise, Dad! Let’s just head over to the castle now, yeah? I’m sure we’re already behind schedule so, uh, sorry about that.”

Though there was hesitation, the captain would eventually sigh, mumbling a quick “No apology needed, son” before walking by him. He’d look over his shoulder to signal for the hero in green to follow him, offering him a smile once he’d do exactly that. “You kept us from wasting time and being further behind schedule later by sending those men on their way. I should be thanking you.”

“Ah, uh, it’s no problem, Dad!” Vio chirped. “I’m just doing what I think is right for the Guard.” He felt himself cringe at his hyper voice, though he managed to hide it by focusing on keeping another yawn down. “Now let’s hurry up!” he started, adding a bit of a faster pace behind his steps. He heard the man chuckle behind him as he turned around to jog backwards. “I’ll race you there, old man!”

“Old man? Oh we’ll see about that, kiddo.” Vio felt himself gulp as the other smirked a confident grin, quickly moving from a steady walk to a full sprint! He laughed when the small hero gasped, spinning on his heels and pushing himself more than before to catch up. “Better hurry up, Green! Last one there is a rotten egg!”

“Wait, I- I take it back! I have _three_ swords!! This isn’t fair! _Dad!!”_

The sounds of heavy, metal armor and clinking equipment rang through the town as the pair ran towards the castle, laughter coming from both of them as they sped around the corner. Blue would let out a sigh as he watched them disappear in the distance. He scanned the area as he reached up to subconsciously adjust the green hat on his head, waiting a few silent beats to himself before finally crossing the entrance to town.

“Idiots.”


End file.
